Third Presidential Debate – Live Blog

Sujeet Rajan, the Editor-in-Chief of The American Bazaar will live blog the third and final presidential debate between the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Republican nominee Donald Trump, being held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Live blog below:

Thank you folks for staying with me on this third and final presidential debate. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Good night!

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America is Great. America will stay Great. Surely, America will become Great Again, whenever it needs to. But with Hillary Clinton as President of the United States. Not you, Sir. Hopefully, Mr. Trump, you will call her your President, come Nov. 9th, or if early trends are overwhelming, on Nov. 8th, 2016 itself.

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Trump wants to repeal Obamacare, or the Affordable care Act. I agree with him, partially. It’s indeed been increasing in cost annually, hitting the middle class hard. However, it’s important to keep it in place and reform it, as Clinton wants to do.

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Trump criticized even President Ronald Reagan in 1987, paying $100,000 for an ad in The New York Times, making derogatory remarks about America, that it’s the laughing stock of the world. The point she didn’t mention is that America is again the laughing stock of the world, for having a vicious racist like Trump so close to the White House!

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Trump acting like the blustering bully he really is. Trying to shut down Wallace from speaking as he points out that Trump was wrong about his reasoning of Aleppo, that the city fell, despite a quarter million people still living there. Poor Gary Johnson might be wincing watching the debate, with some unpretentious laughter all around him! Ask Trump the town next to Aleppo, he most probably would not know. The man doesn’t know how many religions co-exist in India, that India has Muslims too – when asked by a TV reporter at an event held by some Hindus in New Jersey. He thought India has only Hindus.

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Trump perhaps thinks even his marriages have been rigged for him to have two divorces! Clinton exposes him: over the years Trump has thought the FBI is rigged, the primaries where he lost were rigged, the Emmy were rigged for his show not getting an award, the judicial system is rigged. The truth might be revolting for the ‘deplorables’ or perhaps they know it in their bones. In reality, they have been led all along by a man who doesn’t care for them either, he cares only for his own ego. The voters are being ‘rigged’ to vote for Trump. If they don’t vote for him, show some sanity, and it becomes a landslide election triumph for Clinton, Trump might say his supporters were brainwashed.

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The egomaniac Trump, who bought a portrait of himself with the money raised by the Trump Foundation, is accusing the Clinton Foundation of being hateful to Haiti! The Clinton Foundation raised $30 million for Haiti, to help one of the poorest countries on the globe to recover from natural disasters. Wallace points out that Trump paid for his legal lawsuits with the money from the foundation. Disgraceful! Why doesn’t Trump show his tax returns? The world will come to know what a fraud he really is, and all his lies will be exposed about doing charitable work.

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Going down to the wire, this election might be all about, at least for most independent voters, Trump’s sexual assault of numerous women, which he denies, vs. his talk of illegal immigration. Is he fit for president? Do voters have amnesia? If not, they should remember what he has said about women for almost two years on the campaign trail, and the women who have come forward with their harrowing stories of being assaulted.

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India is named for the first time in the three debates! Trump says India is growing at 8%, China at 7%. Trump has shipped jobs to 12 countries, including China, to make his accessories. Clinton point out that Trump has given jobs to Chinese steel workers, not American workers. Clinton now more forceful in the debate, exposing Trump’s lies; despite him saying she has had a bad experience despite her 30 years in office.

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Let’s talk of legal immigration! Who is going to say the magic word for immigrants in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, languishing in the pipeline for a Green Card: faster green cards for high skilled immigrants, remove the country caps, or at least have more Green Cards for workers from India, who have paid their dues here. More opportunities for high skilled immigrants in industries like the high tech sector which needs them, especially in Silicon Valley. C’mon Hillary! She criticizes Trump’s plans to cut taxes for the wealthy.

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The most substantive discussion so far between the two candidates so far, with clear demarcation of policies between the two, toeing party line and values. But one can only wonder if Trump can maintain this kind of decorum for more than hour. What about tomorrow? Is he going to start crazy tweets in the middle of the night? Clinton points out that her plan will lead to 10 million new jobs, while Trump’s will only lead to 3 million new jobs. His policies will lead to another ‘Great Recession.’

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The Washington Post-ABC News poll had economy as top subject of concern for 33% of independent voters. So, it’s about jobs, jobs, jobs, not just for the present generation, but for future generations. Trump may likely lead America to failed policies, and bow out after four years in disgrace. But the bigger fear is that he may lead America to bankruptcy. Voters may need to also consider if their fear of the incumbent (is there a word for that?) is not really equal to upsetting the applecart with needless change. America has been growing, jobs have been growing, economy getting more robust. Why topple that for the unknown? Talk of Wikileaks now, open borders. Like Farage said, Trump throwing some punches now on the issue of ‘open borders.’ But he veers off to nuclear warheads! Trump is a Putin supporter! And he now eulogizing Putin! thank you, says Clinton soundlessly with a smile.

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Most pundits have written off Trump, going by the polls in select states and national tallies, but Trump has one big thing going in his favor: the man behind Britain leaving the EU, Nigel Farage, is optimistic that Trump can pull off the election with a close verdict as he believes that all pre-polls don’t take into consideration voters who are coming back into the election fold. That would mean Trump enthusing his supporters and Clinton’s supporters either feeling over confident or distrustful of her on poll day. Farage believes that Trump is the outsider like the Brexit movement who can upset the apple-cart of the Democrats, just with the talk of immigration alone. Illegal immigration in this case. Well, with almost three weeks to go for the elections, 20 days to be precise, Farage may know a thing or two about all those polls going awry in the final days of a campaign. Clinton may be as much as 10 points up nationally, going by some polls, and leading in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Iowa, among other states. But in reality, some of those leads are within the margin of error in most polls. Reality: Clinton has yet to run away with the election, despite Trump disgusting the majority of American voters with his outright perversions, racism, divisiveness, misogyny. Talk of illegal immigration and bashing immigrants might be the only topic which might get a sympathetic ear from a large number of American voters.

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Trump begins with his ‘scare rhetoric’ as Clinton rights terms it: he talks of a woman wanting to abort a baby in the 9th month, or a day before the baby is born! all to convince that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. Is he crazy, has he ever been in a room when a woman gives birth! Or was he busy assaulting women? This is shameless pandering to the Republican conservatives! Democrat voters need to go out in droves to ensure this man never gets close to the White House, well, he is building a hotel close to it! So, he might get close to it.

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This third debate seems to be Trump’s moment for reconciliation for his past debacles. He seems contrite when talking, and sticking to policies. Clinton should talk of shootings in schools, which have taken precious lives and thrown entire communities in America into chaos, lifelong misery. Who can ever forget the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut, which took the lives of 26 children and adults, apart from the shooter. Trump wants assault weapons in hands of all the crazies out there. Trump wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Clinton rightly wants to have the Roe vs Wade in place. Have women have control of their rights! She attacks Trump for attacking women, saying women who wants abortions should be punished. Trump starts with a sip of water.

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Candidates walk out. Clinton looks presidential, smart in a white suit. Trump looks grim and tired in a suit with a red tie, a businessman-in-the-making after losing a billion dollars.

Despite being handed the election by the creators of Saturday Night Live last weekend, Clinton would nevertheless have to strike up a fine line of attack combined with her laying out her positions on policies, a balance of offense and defense. She might also be wary of the host for tonight’s debate, Chris Wallace, the first Fox News anchor to moderate a debate, and who aligns himself to the conservative brand of Republicans. Now, Wallace might, along with other conservatives, felt slighted and ridiculed by Trump since the primaries. This might well be his night to take revenge on Trump and offload all the controversies the Donald has wrought upon himself and the party. But dangerous too for the Clinton camp, he might be inclined to back the only Republican who has a chance this election to become president (maybe the thought of Supreme Court judges who bang their gavel down on any talk of abortion might be giving him sleepless nights) , and go tough on Clinton. Clinton talks of Roe vs. Wade. Are we going to get yet another wary and startled look from President Bill Clinton in the audience? Who knows, the drama has begun!

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Alright! This third debate is final warning for American voters to decide whom they want to seat in the Oval office of the White House: the tyrannical Trump, who might decide to turn the country into his version of HBO’s Westworld – where the ‘deplorables’ of the Republican Party or the Grand Old Party as they say too, the crazies, the Nazis, the white supremacists can run amok and target all the minorities and do with them what they wish to do, or watch the wrecker-in-chief Donald Trump bring their darkest desires come to life, like at the murderous and rapacious vacation-themed park of Westworld. And in Trump’s world, those cyborgs of Westworld would be replaced by human Mexicans, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Disabled, etc. The list is too long to reproduce fully here.

Or they might just decide that enough of this predator-in-chief Trump, who like to grab crotches of one type of gender, against their will. And, instead, vote for a woman who deserved as much to be president eight years ago, as she deserves to be president today: Hillary Clinton.

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Hello folks! Sit back and enjoy the third presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. If you follow this live blog, and are inclined to, do send in your comments in the comments section below. No need to fact check this blog! Fair warning: it’s my mix of fact and raw emotion, hand-wringing and plenty of cringing thinking of what foul words, lies and deceits will be uttered with dramatic effect on stage tonight (in between great bouts of sniveling by at least one candidate on stage; which reminds one that the venerable senator from Texas Ted Cruz did call Trump ‘sniveling coward’ before endorsing him), in between some typing. Please excuse typos.

Third Presidential Debate – Live Blog was last modified: April 5th, 2017 by Sujeet Rajan